Hidden behind those red blindfolds, were curious eyes that once saw the world, soaked it's hue and carried dreams like every other girl. Gandhari, mother of 101 kids, sister of Shakuni but most importantly, she was yet another bird shackled by rules...
Since the book is Historical fiction hence I have made a list of words that are written in hindi.
Rajkumari- Princess
Rajkumar- Prince
Bhrata- Brother
Kheer- This is a sweet dish made from rice, milk and sweet substances. In early days it was made from gud (something like unprocessed sugar).
Kajal- It is an eye cosmetic, also known as Kohl. It was generally made by placing ghee diya beneath silver and burning it till a black substance is not produced.Image is given here:
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Ratrani- It is a flower that blooms at night and gives out an enchanting smell.
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Lehenga- It is a traditional wear of India. Looks like a fancy long skirt. The blouse on top is called choli and the whole set is accompanied by a long cloth named dupatta.
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The long cloth, dupatta was also called Uttariya that both men and women adorned.
Mantra- They were chanting that were required for a ritual.
Antaria- It is a long cloth that is wrapped around your waist. Also known as Dhoti
Disclaimer
The muhurat mentioned in my chapters are not exactly calculated. It requires a skilled priest to get muhurat so getting exact muhurat of events of 5000 years back are near impossible. Hence whatever muhurat is used, it is to give basic idea of approximate time of the day. Though I tried to be historically accurate with day to day activities but I am no historian so there are bound to be some mistakes. Like skirts of stitched lehengas were started during Mauryan Era which was years later than the time period we are talking about. Similarly jewellery too are from different eras of Indian history that I have described.
Timings
The count of time is as follows:
1 निमेष = Time taken to pronounce a letter with one matra, time taken for twinkling of eye
15 Nimesh = 1 kaashtha
30 kaashtha = 1 kala
30 kala = 1 Muhurat = 2 Nadika
30 Muhurat = 1 human day (day and night)
(1 Nadika = 24 minutes)
Different Muhurats
The day started with sunrise.
06:00-06:48 (sunrise) Rudra (रुद्र)
06:48-07:36 Āhi (आहि)
07:36-08:24 Mitra (मित्र)
08:24-09:12 Pitṝ (पितृ)
09:12-10:00 Vasu (वसु)
10:00-10:48 Vārāha (वाराह)
10:48-11:36 Viśvedevā (विश्वेदेवा)
11:36-12:24 Vidhi (विधि)
12:24-13:12 Sutamukhī (सतमुखी)
13:12-14:00 Puruhūta (पुरुहूत)
14:00-14:48 Vāhinī (वाहिनी)
14:48-15:36 Naktanakarā (नक्तनकरा)
15:36-16:24 Varuṇa (वरुण)
16:24-17:12 Aryaman (अर्यमन्)
17:12-18:00 Bhaga (भग)
18:00-18:48 (sunset) Girīśa (गिरीश)
18:48-19:36 Ajapāda (अजपाद)
19:36-20:24 Ahir-Budhnya (अहिर्बुध्न्य)
20:24-21:12 Puṣya (पुष्य)
21:12-22:00 Aśvinī (अश्विनी)
22:00-22:48 Yama (यम)
22:48-23:36 Agni (अग्नि)
23:36-00:24 Vidhātṛ (विधातृ)
00:24-01:12 Kaṇḍa (क्ण्ड)
01:12-02:00 Aditi (अदिति)
02:00-02:48 Jīva/Amṛta (जीव/अमृत)
02:48-03:36 Viṣṇu (विष्णु)
03:36-04:24 Dyumadgadyuti (द्युमद्गद्युति)
04:24-05:12 Brahma (ब्रह्म) this is considered most auspicious muhurat.
05:12-06:00 Samudra (समुद्र)
These are various Muhurats of vernal equinox, also known as Vedic New year and I have taken reference of timing from here.
Story of Gandhari
Gandhari was princess of the kingdom of Gandhar who was married to a blind prince name Dhritrashtra. Being a pativrata (these women were completely dedicated to their husbands) she decided to tie a strip around her eyes. She took an oath to never see anything as her husband was going through same agony. She was also a great devotee of Lord Shiva (one of the 3 most powerful gods of Hinduism) and thus granted boon of 100 sons.
Sadly, all her sons died in Kurukshetra war. Due to the agony of losing all her sons she cursed Krishna (one of the 10 avatars of Vishnu, Vishnu was one of the 3 most powerful gods of Hinduism).
She died in a forest fire.
Note to readers
The main plot starts from chapter 6, the initial chapters are just for character establishment but don't skip those as they are important to understand later story.
